1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a power plant boiler cleaning apparatus and more particularly to a power plant boiler cleaning apparatus which may be utilized while the power plant boiler is on-line.
2. Description of the Related Art
In very large power plants, the boiler thereof includes a coal furnace within an enclosure wherein there are multiple rows of hanging heat exchange pipes or tubes which may be either vertically disposed or horizontally disposed. The heat exchange tubes have water passing therethrough which is heated by the furnace for creating steam to operate the power plant generators. When the exterior surfaces of the steel pipes or tubes are clean, there is very good heat transfer between the hot air within the boiler and the pipes for efficiently heating the water in the pipes. The temperature within the boiler may be approximately 2,500.degree. F. The coal furnace, however, releases coal ash which turbulently flies through the boiler which sticks or adheres to the pipes thereby forming a cement-like coating around the pipes. The heat transfer from the hot air in the boiler to the coated pipes decreases and the overall power plant becomes more inefficient, requiring greater consumption of coal for the amount of steam produced. Therefore, it is necessary to go into the boiler and clean the coal ash from the pipes on a regular basis, perhaps several times a year. Heretofore, it was necessary that the power plant boiler be shut down to enable workers to go into the boiler enclosure to manually chip the coal ash from the steel pipes. Such a procedure is a monumental job and is prohibitively expensive because of the cost of the downtime of the boiler and the cost of getting the boiler back on-line.